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Breather for Mayawati, HC stays her arrest

          Lucknow, Oct 22: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati got a breather on Wednesday when the Allahabad High Court stayed her arrest till the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) completed its investigations in the cases lodged against her. The Lucknow Bench of the High Court directed the CBI to continue investigations, but issued instructions not to arrest the BSP leader till the probe was completed. Mayawati had on Monday filed two writ petitions seeking a stay on her arrest and quashing of the FIRs in the Taj Heritage Corridor and the disproportionate assets cases.

India offers to restore cricket ties with Pakistan

          New Delhi, Oct 22: External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday offered to restore cricketing ties with Pakistan. In a dramatic gesture, Sinha said India also offered to augment the number of buses to Lahore and allow senior citizens to cross over by road. New Delhi has already offered free medical treatment for 20 more Pakistani children as part of a new initiative to normalise relations. After attending the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sinha said Indo-Pak rail links would resume only after air links were fully restored and proposed bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in Pak- occupied Kashmir (PoK) and a rail link connecting Rajasthan and Sindh. However, Sinha said no dialogue would be possible as long as cross-border terrorism continued.

Advani to meet Hurriyat chief soon

          New Delhi, Oct.22: Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani will soon meet and talk to Abbas Ali Ansari, chief of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), on the Kashmir issue, Union Home Secretary N. Gopalswami told reporters on Wednesday. "The Deputy Prime Minister will meet Ansari in response to his statement of August 25 that they (Hurriyat) are interested in talks with the Centre," Gopalaswami said after a two-hour long meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which was chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Home Secretary, however, said that the dates for the talks were yet to be finalized.

Truckload of explosives seized in Mumbai (Go To Top)

          Mumbai, Oct 22: Police in Mumbai on Wednesday seized a truck carrying explosives. Acting on a tip-off, the police found 700 detonators and 750 kilograms of ammonium nitrate in the vehicle which was intercepted early on Wednesday in the satellite township, Vasai or New Mumbai, 12 miles north of Mumbai.

          Inspector-General of Police of Konkan area, K.P. Raghuvanshi said police suspect the truck was heading for Mumbai. "We had received information that some explosive is likely to be transported towards Thane, so for the last three days we were working towards it. Yesterday evening we came to know it was coming. So our party found that the truck was full of onions. But since the information was definite, our party searched the whole truck and we found some gunny bags. We then found ammonium nitrate and 700 kgs of explosives," he said.

          Four people have been arrested in this connection. Police have been on alert in Mumbai, the country's commercial capital, after the deadly double bomb attack in late August blamed on Islamic militants, left some 50 people dead. A number of suspects have been arrested in connection with the August explosions. However, the alleged mastermind was shot dead by police last month.

Seven killed at Doda wedding party (Go To Top)

         Jammu, Oct 22: Seven people were killed when militants opened indiscriminate fire on a wedding party in a house late on Tuesday night in Pul Doda area of Doda district. Police on Wednesday said that militants, dressed in Army fatigues, barged into the house at 11 pm and opened indiscriminate fire on its occupants. The incident took place just three km from the town of Doda.

          Four people were killed on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital. One person was also critically injured in the incident and shifted to Government Medical College Jammu (GMC). Security forces have launched a search operation for the militants. People in the town observed a shutdown in protest against the killings. Two police constables from Doda have been detained for investigation by authorities.

Geelani, Malik taken into preventive custody (Go To Top)

          Srinagar, Oct 22: All-Party Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yassin Malik were taken into preventive custody on Wednesday on the orders of the Jammu and Kashmir government. The arrest of the two Kashmiri leaders sparked off acts of violence across the city, especially in the communally sensitive Maisuma area. Malik was arrested while he was proceeding to the southern Kashmiri locality of Bijbehara where security forces had allegedly killed a villager in custody on Tuesday. Shouting anti-government slogans, supporters of Geelani and Malik put up roadblocks and indulged in stone pelting at police personnel. Police had to resort to lobbing teargas shells, firing in the air and a baton charge to disperse the angry crowds. Shopkeepers pulled down their shutters and traffic was disrupted.

          Geelani, who was also proceeding to Bijbehara, was also placed under house arrest at his residence at Hyderpora. He was going there in connection with the tenth anniversary of the massacre, in which 40 civilians killed when security forces firing on the town during the month-long siege of the Hazratbal shrine in 1993. The entire city was placed under tight security following the violence.

No need for third party intervention in Kashmir: UK envoy (Go To Top)

         Islamabad, Oct 22: Britain's High Commissioner to Pakistan Mark Lyall Grant has ruled out third party intervention in the Kashmir dispute, and suggested that the bilateral route is best for both Pakistan and India. "The Kashmir issue could not be resolved through third-party intervention," the Dawn quoted Grant as saying on Tuesday while addressing the Faislabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also said that only after the Kashmir dispute is resolved, could Pakistan achieve self-reliance and prosperity. The high commissioner's statement seems to vindicate the India's stance on the issue.

Sino-Indo border talks from today (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Oct 22: Special Representatives from India and China will have the first meeting here on Thursday to give a political push for the early resolution of the protracted boundary question. Principal Secretary to Prime Minister and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra will meet Dai Bingguo, senior Vice Minister of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, to work out a pragmatic and mutually acceptable approach in dealing with this issue. So far there have been 14 meetings of the India-China Joint Working Group on the boundary question, progress of which has been painfully slow.

          Meanwhile, dozens of Tibetan exiles took to the streets to voice their protests against Dai Bingguo's visit to New Delhi. Shouting slogans, the protesters said there was no such thing as a Sino-Indian border. "We are holding these mass demonstrations against the visit of Bingguo to India to hold border talks," said Tanzing Samphel, President of Tibetan Youth Congress. Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950 and Buddhist spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, along with his followers fled to India nine years later after an abortive uprising against Communist rule. The Tibetan refugees are now settled in different parts of India with the Dalai Lama establishing his headquarters in Dharamsala.

          India and China, who went to war in 1962 over a border dispute, have in recent years sought to improve ties and end decades of distrust.

Amarinder appears in court (Go To Top)

          Chandigarh, Oct 22: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appeared in a local court on Wednesday in a defamation suit filed against him by Prakash Singh Badal. Amarinder Singh had in an earlier hearing asked for exemption from personal appearance, but the court had directed him to appear in court today. Badal had filed a case against Amarinder in Chandigarh's district courts alleging that the 'Badal family' was being tormented by Amarinder through a fabricated corruption case installed against him by the vigilance bureau at Amarinder's behest. After the court hearing Amarinder rubbished Badal's claims that

Paes recovering fast (Go To Top)

          Kolkata, Oct 22: Family of the Indian tennis star Leander Paes on Wednesday said he would return to competitive tennis very soon as he was recovering fast of the brain lesion. Vece Paes, Leander's father, said the lesion in his brain has reduced to half. "Basically all the treatment has stopped, it's just a matter of follow-up on his MRI scan at the end of the month. For the moment the lesion has reduced by 50 percent. We hope that the balance will be cleared by that time and then he can start playing competitive tennis again," Vece Paes said. Paes, who won this year's mixed doubles title at the Wimbledon alongwith Martina Navratilova, had pulled out of the U.S. Open in August, after medical tests revealed a lesion in the left occipital region of his brain.

          Paes is a national hero in India mainly for his exploits in the Davis Cup, where his scalps include much higher-ranked players such as Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia and South African Wayne Ferreira. He won the singles bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The 30-year-old is also a former world number one in doubles. He and Bhupathi, who split up last year due to personal reasons, have won three grand slam titles together. However, Paes-Bhupathy duo is expected to play for India in Athens Olympics. In 1999 they had become the first pair in almost 50 years to reach the finals of all four majors. The two were supposed to reunite briefly at the TD Waterhouse Cup at Long Island in August this year before Paes had to pull out.

Ganguly better, say doctors (Go To Top)

          Kolkata, Oct 22: Skipper Sourav Ganguly is progressing satisfactorily after the second surgery for abscess on his left thigh, according to a medical bulletin issued by the nursing home here. The patient tolerated well the daily dressing of his wound which was found sterile on culture, said doctors on Wednesday, adding the cricket star was taking walks in his room and was also sleeping well. Ganguly's stay in the nursing home has already been extended till Saturday. The skipper, who missed the second Test against New Zealand at Mohali due to the infection, has already been ruled out of the first two matches of the triangular one-day series beginning in Chennai on Thursday.

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-ANI

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